What if trusting God leaves you with tears in your eyes and questions you cannot answer?

Several friends are walking through difficult seasons right now. As I think about what they are facing, I find myself remembering my own painful days. I know how quickly faith becomes personal when the hardship we once prayed about for someone else arrives at our own door.

It has left me wondering: What does it really mean to suffer well?

I think of Joni Eareckson Tada. At nineteen, a diving accident left her permanently paralyzed from the shoulders down. During rehabilitation, she wrestled with anger, depression, suicidal thoughts, and doubts about God.

We can hurry past that part of her story because we know about the books, the artwork, and the lives she has encouraged. But her struggle deserves our attention, too. Her faith did not spare her the anguish of facing a life she had never imagined.

Eventually, Joni learned to paint with a brush held between her teeth. Her life became a testimony of God’s grace, even as her paralysis remained.

Her story reminds me that suffering well leaves room for grief. We can love God and still wish desperately that things were different. We can trust Him and still need someone to sit beside us while we cry.

James 1:2–4 teaches that the testing of our faith produces perseverance and helps us grow toward maturity. The joy comes from knowing that God can accomplish something good even here, in circumstances we would never have chosen.

That does not make the pain small. It gives us hope within it.

Romans 8:28 promises that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him. Some days, we can see glimpses of that good. Other days, we hold the promise with trembling hands.

And trembling hands can still hold on.

If you are hurting today, you do not have to produce an inspiring explanation for what you are enduring. Let someone help carry the burden. Tell God the truth about your fear, your exhaustion, and your unanswered questions.

Perhaps today, suffering well begins with one honest prayer: “Lord, I don’t understand. Please help me trust You through this.”

My prayer for my friends, and for myself, is that hardship will draw us closer to Jesus. May we remember that our hope reaches beyond this life, and that His love holds us even when our own strength gives way.

Lord, meet us in the places that hurt. Give us grace to be honest, courage to receive help, and strength for the next step. Deepen our trust in You, and help us rest in Your love when we cannot understand Your ways. Amen.

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